Putting a face to the names: Houston Chronicle photographers

Let’s be honest here, this blog wouldn’t be nearly as interesting without the photos. For example, it’s awfully hard to do a Then & Now like this when you don’t have a “then” photo.

So, for Bayou City History’s third anniversary, let’s put a face to the names of some of these photographers whose pictures have found a new audience through this blog, decades after their photos originally appeared in the paper.

Bear in mind there have been hundreds of staff photographers who have worked at Houston’s three major daily newspapers. To profile them all would be a monumental effort. So for the purposes of these next few blog posts, I’m focusing on those photographers from the ’50s and ’60s whose photos have frequently appeared in the blog.

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Bill Clough : Chronicle file

David Nance, 1973.

David Nance joined the Chronicle as a staff photographer in 1965. The Charlotte, N.C., native had earlier worked as a photographer at the Charlotte Observer.

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Chronicle file

Richard Pipes, 1968.

Richard Pipes joined the Chronicle in 1961. After more than 40 years in the business, Pipes is still at it, working as a staff photographer at a New Mexico paper.

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Chronicle file

Tom Colburn, 1958.

Tom Colburn worked at the Chronicle for 25 years before retiring in 1979. He also did some work for Life, Holiday Magazine and Ladies Home Journal and was a staff photographer for the Dallas Times Herald. In 1967, Colburn, who attended Jeff Davis High School, was chosen as the National Press Photographers Association’s Newspaper Photographer of the Year.

Colburn died in 1987.

Left photo by Tom Colburn, right photo by George Honeycutt : Chronicle file

From the April 8, 1965, Chronicle: “Chronicle photographer Tom Colburn sped to the Domed Stadium Wednesday night when he heard that a broken pipe had flooded a ticket office. Colburn thought it might be newsworthy. Dick McDowell, the Houston Astros’ ticket manager, who’d been bailing out his bailiwick, thought it might be embarrassing. In one fell swoop, McDowell solved the problem. As shown at left, he doused his embarrassment, our photographer and more than $1,000 worth of camera equipment. Such carryings on, thought H.B. (Spec) Richardson, the Astros’ business manager, are unbecoming in the county’s building. His solution? Throw the bum out! George Honeycutt, The Chronicle’s director of photography, who was leaving the stadium after shooting an Astro practice game, caught a guard giving Colburn a shove toward the gate, right. As a result Honeycutt and five other Chronicle photographers were thrown out, too. Bill Giles, HSA publicity director, offered HSA’s apologies to the photographers. ‘Our people were frantic,’ he said, ‘since the tickets were in jeopardy.’ “

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Tike Liljequist : Chronicle file

Larry Evans, 1959.

Sometime around 1937, a Chronicle photographer was warned by another man to leave town by noon. The dispute was over a woman.

The photographer didn’t dawdle. He was gone by 11 a.m.

That’s how the story was told at least. And that’s how Chronicle copy boy Larry Evans saw an opening and became a staff photographer, a job he held for nearly four decades.

Evans is quoted as following this philosophy when it comes to photojournalism: “Gain the subject’s confidence. Don’t bully or intimidate people.” It’s said that Evans would often walk through the newsroom and ask reporters for suggestions, always looking for something fresh and unusual to photograph.

Evans died in 1976.

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Chronicle file

Sam C. Pierson Jr., 1964.

Sam C. Pierson Jr. had been at the Chronicle for nine years when he wrote an article describing what he had seen after Hurricane Carla ravaged the Texas Coast in 1961.

“I flew the coastline Tuesday between Freeport and Galveston in the wake of the storm. The side of Texas ripped open by the hurricane’s knife is still bleeding.

The wound is raw and ugly.”

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Richard Pipes : Chronicle file

Darrell Davidson, April 1966.

Darrell Davidson came to the Chronicle in 1965 after working in his hometown of Amarillo.

Richard Pipes : Chronicle file

Darrell Davidson at work during the Ernie Terrell/Doug Jones fight at the Sam Houston Coliseum, June 1966.

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Curtis McGee : Chronicle file

George Honeycutt, 1973.

George Honeycutt was the Chronicle’s director of photography for 33 years until his retirement in 1997. A native of High Point, N.C., Honeycutt won numerous awards for his work over the years and is credited for helping to guide the photo staff into the digital era.

Honeycutt died in 2008 at the age of 72.

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Of course, these aren’t the only Chronicle photographers from that era to make the blog. The work of these Chronicle photographers have also appeared here: Bob Saitta, Gunnar Liljequist Sr., Tike Liljequist, William Dodge Kesler, Jim Morgan, Jim Coker, Medford Taylor, Bill Goodwin, Ted Rozumalski, Al Startzman, Larry Gilbert, Scott Dine, Chester Rogers, Jess Gibson and Jim Doersam.